Not sure if this is the right place for this, since this is a tutor list, but I think it is because it involves learning Python and the application of knowledge.
I've just started learning it as my initial programming language as of two months ago. I like to think I'm making steady progress, and I now understand the most rudimentary level of the basics. What I keep reading is how Python is most powerful on server side applications, in the cloud, so to speak. The portability of Python is also widely evangelized. Here's my problem with this so far-- I can write a basic script, have it take in data, rearrange it, and spit it back out. Following along in a book, I can write a basic GUI or game. It's all wine and roses on my Windows laptop, where I have everything configured just right, with all of the modules in place where they need to be. Moving this to a server or even another computer so far has been a seemingly impossible task. There's a lot of documentation for CGI scripting (which is now frowned upon, with every page recommending looking into wsgi), and there have been applications devoted to transforming scripts into Windows executables (py2exe, etc.) but it seems like this is much more confusing than need be, and I can't get them to work regardless. When I try and google for solutions, choosing any terms like "web" or "server" point me to massive framework solutions like Django or Pylons, which seem extraordinarily complex for what I want. Specific examples: I have a livewires/pygame GUI game I wrote along with folowing the book "Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner" and it works great on my laptop. I tried installing Python/pygame on a work computer and copying my scripts over, but it endlessly fails with errors so obtuse I can't troubleshoot. I'm not even sure if I have the correct modules installed here. Should they be under "Lib" or "libs" or "includes"? Trying to use py2exe fails because I can't figure out how to include non-scripts in the final program, like .pngs or .jpgs. How would I even begin to put this on a server? I'm clueless. Another program I am using on my laptop is a convenience script-- it takes in a text list of groceries, and spits out a formatted list based on aisle locations so I can get in and out of the grocery store faster. My laptop is the only place I can use this. I've tried using multiple CGI examples, and it always results in a "File Not Found" error. Not even sure how I can debug it. I can have the server do a simple one-line of printing "Hello World" but anything more complicated than that makes it implode. The most frustrating thing is how flippantly experienced programmers say to use Django for Python web apps because it's so simple to use. It took me a good half-day to just install it, and unless I'm writing a sample code or if I want to clone a newspaper service, I have absolutely no idea how I would use it efficiently. I want to learn the basics before running off to learn a new framework. I'm trying to find good resources so I can continue self teaching, but everything I find seems to be tailored to two classes: the complete newbie who doesn't know how to print a line, or an advanced programmer who is using list comprehension within a recursion with multiple modules. In short, is there a "simple" method for putting python scripts onto a server that I do not host myself? I've seen web2py and it looks like it would be more my speed, but support is lacking and doesn't seem too compatible with my host. I use Dreamhost, and they are very adaptable and configurable, but so far I can't find an easy way to accomplish what I want. Thanks for reading this far if you did! I welcome any suggestions whatsoever. Eric
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